Published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc.

Overheard

To make things worse, the accuser claims Burrell used anointment oils during the act. After the incident, they then worked on [installing bathroom] tiles for a few hours before Burrell took him back to the home, saying, “What happens at the church stays at the church.”

Teen’s testimony at the trial of Pastor Bobby Burrell, whom he accused of masturbating in front of him in Lawton, Okla.

KWSO, 2-10-14

I am facing my imminent death. [Why are people in other states] able to die with dignity and I am not? This should be a basic human right.

Robert Mitton, 58, a Denver man with a terminal cardiac condition, favoring a proposal to authorize prescriptions for lethal doses if two doctors agree a patient will die within six months

New York Times, 2-8-14

At present the Religious Right has a tremendous amount of power, but they are getting older. Surveys show young Americans are rejecting institutional religion because they identify it with the Religious Right and values that they find off-putting, and frankly, immoral.

Dan Linford, Virginia Tech Freethinkers president and graduate student in the philosophy of religion

The Telegraph, 2-10-14

An ordained psychotherapist who has treated many pedophile priests in Britain wrote to me: “In all those cases of clerical abuse I dealt with, the sacrament of confession was used by the molester to discover vulnerability and groom candidates for abuse.”

John Cornwell, author of The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession

The Daily Mail, 2-8-14

Not all prisoners are religious, and I wanted them to know that to turn your life around and be a good and productive member of society does not require a belief in God.

Leslie Zukor, Seattle, founder of the Freethought Books Project, which distributes reading material to inmates across the U.S.

USA Today, 1-25-14

Just as gay marriage is not a threat to straight marriage, atheism is not a threat to religion.

Column by atheist journalist Cindy Hoedel, “Let 2014 be the year we start accepting atheists”

Kansas City Star, 1-18-14

Just as there are laws guaranteeing the division between church and state, there must be national guidelines to separate education and religion.

Op-ed by Veronica An, sophomore narrative studies major, “Prayer should be left out of public schools”

USC Daily Trojan, 1-27-14

I feel very sorry for teachers when the children who come here start guessing if what they’re being taught is wrong.

This is exactly what I was concerned about. Maybe the only thing that hasn’t happened yet is any particular group saying, “We haven’t been represented here and now we want to sue you.” That’s the only thing that hasn’t gone wrong yet.

Mark Senmartin, Marathon [Fla.] City Council, refusing to stand for pre-meeting prayer and objecting to a pastor’s “creationist” invocation

Florida Keys Keynoter, 2-5-14

The new generation of Iraqis are tired of religious extremists and politicians, who are responsible for the ongoing sectarian divide in the country.

Nawaf Al-Kaabi, 23, Basra, on how violence is turning young Iraqis away from religion